The Globe and Mail

Not so long ago (February), Toyota’s Yaris subcompact ranked among the top 10 best-selling cars in Canada. Toyota was rolling out 1,200-1,300 of these sedans and hatchbacks, selling them to budget-minded, entry-level buyers looking for a car with the best fuel economy in its class.

No more. The Yaris fell out of the top 10 list months ago. In fact, sales of fuel misers have pretty much collapsed in Canada. Subcompact sales are down about 25 per cent, compact sales about 10 per cent and passenger car sales overall have slumped about 8 per cent this year.

What’s selling? Light trucks – pickups, SUVs and even minivans to some extent. Light truck sales were up 22 per cent last month alone. Fuel misers? Not so much.

So it’s tough to move a Yaris off a dealer lot these days. Small car buyers – when they’re buying – are at the very least going for compacts like the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Mazda3 and Volkswagen Golf. The little, inexpensive Yaris ($13,620-$19,555) is struggling to find its way in a big, cutthroat world.

The Yaris is hardly alone, either. It competes with other subcompacts like the Honda Fit and Nissan Versa, as well as the Hyundai Accent and Chevrolet Aveo. The newest kid on the block is the 2011 Ford Fiesta which is being launched right now.

The Yaris is, of course, an established player and Toyota has loyal customers, which means there is a core group who just walk into a dealership and point. The choices include two Yaris body styles — three- and five-door hatchback and four-door Yaris sedan.

Any one of them has a tidy little array of sales sweeteners worth noting: $1,750 in a factory to consumer rebate for cash buyers or $250 that can be combined with 0.0 per cent financing for up to four years.

Whichever Yaris you like, this is a pretty decent-sized car for a grocery-getter. In fact, this Yaris is about the same size as the Toyota Corolla of a decade ago and, in front legroom and headroom department, the Yaris is on par with the last-generation Corolla.

So there is decent space up front and the back seat is surprisingly good, too. With the driver seat adjusted for a six-footer, normal adults have room without bumping heads or knees. Credit toe room under the front seats for helping here.

As for the rest of the cabin, it’s competitive econo-box all the way. You’ll find lots of hard plastics and simple colour arrays. The standout design feature is a V-shaped centre stack that looks a bit like a pedestal. Unfortunately, without room for big cup holders, it's not very practical. The cup holders, instead, are placed on each side of the dashboard where they are less than useful.

Storage space in general is a problem, in fact. Console storage bins on either side of the centre stack are just not enough for today’s gadget-filled world.

But I do like the controls on the stack itself. They are well organized, and the centre-mounted gauges – while they take some getting used to – function quite well. Height-adjustable front seats and a tilt steering wheel are good additions, too.

The powerplant here – the only one offered in the Yaris – is a 1.5-litre inline-four-cylinder with Toyota’s latest VVT-i technology and your transmission choices are four-speed automatic ($1,000) or five-speed manual.

The engine produces 106 hp at 6,000 rpm and 103 lb-ft of torque at 4,200 rpm. Decent numbers for the segment, but the engine is loud at full throttle and with so little power you find yourself digging into the gas often.